Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Watch and Listen to Mother Nature-Not the Salesmen


Thirty years ago there was the “Australian Tomato Tree.” About a million suckers, including me, made the fellow rich-until he went to jail for mail fraud. A few years ago it was the “Hanging Tomato Plant,” that nobody I heard of was happy with. They sold like hot cakes—one season. There was “Square Foot Gardening,” which is probably a good way to get newbies interested in gardening. This year it’s the “No Till Gardening,” that’s all the rage. No Till has been around forever. Mother Nature has been practicing it for over a billion years. Why do you think each plant produces hundreds and thousands of seeds? It takes that many for only a few to find purchase in the soil, put down roots and survive long enough to re-produce.

My dad, who never actually worked the soil but was always reading the latest fascinating farming curves, had us plant our very best 25 acre field in buckwheat. We were to plant after only slightly breaking up the surface-just enough so the seed would have contact with the soil. It grew well. It was a great looking crop-one of our best. When the harvester arrived with his combine and looked over the ground, he asked, “What kind of idiot would plant in rough ground like this?” My dad sheepishly replied, “This kind.”

The crop couldn’t be harvested at all. That was 60 years ago. I had spent any number of evenings after school lightly disking that field and a long weekend planting it. I was 12 and that buckwheat was my pride. My beautiful crop was useless.

Some of the arguments for “no till” are obviously committed by guys like my dad. New roots are going to be a lot happier in loose soil. Breaking up the soil to add organic matter gives the sub surface a big shot of oxygen. Once the microbes get that blast of air they go on a feeding-breeding-reproducing frenzy. They’ll be breaking down organic matter much more quickly. It needs to be broken down by the microbes before the plant can absorb those nutrients.

Before you waste a growing season, money and hard work, think through the whole process of what you’re trying to accomplish. If it doesn’t seem logical, it probably isn’t. New methods, gimmicks and fads always seem to be popular for at least one season. I’ve yet to see anything “new” that isn’t a spin on what we already know.
There’s no substitute for standard gardening. There are no shortcuts, magical cures, miracle solutions, nor is there a way to avoid the simple basics. You can simplify and speed the basics by speeding up the compost process, building raised beds, using drip irrigation, planting at just the right time, timing when to put down mulch so that you miss the breeding season for your typical pests, and a variety of other little things that are helpful to understand.



Sometimes a hanging tomato plant is just the ticket and the only option. Just don’t get the idea that it’s the ultimate in tomato growing. If you’re going to grow a tomato, a tulip or turnip, you’re probably better off to watch how Mother Nature does it; rather than the guys who want to sell you something that you can’t possibly do without. 

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